Changes at BAMC Center for the Intrepid could affect veteran resources

Changes are coming to Brooke Medical Center that can affect some veterans' resources.

Author:
Andrea Martinez

Published:
11:42 PM CDT June 22, 2017

Updated:
11:42 PM CDT June 22, 2017

Changes are coming to Brooke Medical Center that can affect some veterans' resources.

For years, the Center for the Intrepid has also been home to staffers from the Veterans Benefits Administration, or VBA. Now, those staffers, who help veterans file claims and receive benefits, are being moved.

Some veterans fear they will lose a resource that has saved them the time dealing with Veterans Affairs.

Jose Rivas is a retired veteran and has depended on the Center for the Intrepid and the VBA benefits there.

“They helped a lot of soldiers transition, making sure they had their papers straight, records straight,” Rivas said. “Thank goodness to them, I was able to submit all my injuries, and I got what I was owed right then and there, where other service members were waiting two to three years to get any kind of answer.”

A spokesperson for BAMC said that veterans will still have access to the VBA staffers, only at a different location within the campus. They also confirmed that the decision was not contractual but mutual, a decision between the VBA, BAMC, and the Center for the Intrepid.